August

Mt Harvard

August was a crazy month.  We sold our house and moved all our stuff into storage.  We moved the rest of our stuff to my folks place where we will be living for the next 6 months while our house is being built.  I also transitioned into my new position at work.  It was tough to get my miles in but it still ended up being a pretty good month.

I managed 182 miles.  David and I knocked Mt Harvard off the list.  I ran a 5:48 mile on the last mile of my 6 mile run while in Dallas.  That is a PR for a mile.  The highlight of the month though was pacing Tim F during the last 50 miles of the Leadville 100.

Hope Pass

Tim was shooting for a big buckle.  I wasn't sure he would be able to pull it off.  The altitude takes a toll and the climbs of Hope Pass and Powerline have a way of taking people out.  I picked Tim up at Winfield and I really enjoyed Hope Pass.  It was nice to climb that mountain with fresh legs.  Tim powered up to the top without pause.  It was a solid climb.  He ran down the backside with little sign of fatigue.  I'm sure he was feeling it but he showed a lot of spring in his step.  When I ran LT in 2012 I turned on my headlamp on this decent.  We wouldn't turn on our headlamp for a couple more hours this year.

Trucking up Hope Pass

Climbing out of Twin Lakes is one of the most overlooked climbs on the course.  Tim was grinding hard during this section and I wasn't sure how he would respond once we got to the top.  We got to the top and Tim threw down a really inspired 10 miles at a 12 minute pace.  Complete gut check!  It was really impressive to have that effort of sustained running at that point in the race.  It's hard to explain to people how hard it is to run this consistently after 65 miles.  Not only is it really physically challenging but mentally it is a relentless battle. Tim just kept the legs pumping.

We took the never-ending climb up Powerline around mile 80.  About two miles from the top we started hearing a horn.  It was a double edged sword.  It was nice to know where the top was but it took a long time to get there.  It felt like it would never end.  When we got to the top there was an aid station named Space Camp.  This place was a little bit of crazy.  There were about 100 glow sticks hanging from strings on trees.  There was a sign hanging over the trail that said "Nice Fucking Job".  The rave party aid station was nuts.  Besides the horn the volunteers were yelling "Nice Fucking Job" and having a hell of a time.  One guy tried handing Tim a sparkler which he declined.  It was a really uplifting after that big climb.  As we ran out of the station someone chased us with a blow up glow in the dark alien.  It was perfect.

River crossing before Twin Lakes

We made our way down towards May Queen.  As we hit the 2 miles of rocky single track that dumped off the dirt road I started hitting a low point.  This was about mile 37 for me and mile 87 for Tim.  I'm not sure if Tim sensed my low point or not but we settled into a slow pace through this 2 mile section.  We didn't say much to each other during this stretch and I was just hoping I would bounce back so I could give Tim what he needs for the final 13 miles. 

We got to May Queen and Tim asked if I was ok.  The guy who ran 87 miles was asking me.  I told myself to snap out of it and got really motivated to get us home.  We had created a nice cushion to break the 25 hour mark that determines if you get the big buckle.  I think we could have averaged about 17 minute miles and still get it done.

The night time is the right time.

We were ahead of the New England contingent that Tim came out with.  I'm not sure if it meant anything to Tim but I wanted to get us in ahead of them.  I thought if we could push hard to the end of the reservoir we could coast in to the finish line.  Tim was in the hurt locker here but he kept moving great.  I knew I was setting a tough pace but he kept it up.  He was dry heaving a bit and must have been delirious.  I knew I wouldn't have been able to do what he was doing at that mileage.  In fact I remember the shuffle I finished this section in and it was nothing close to the pace we were running.

We got past the lake and ran the road up to the railroad tracks.  We walked it in the last 3-5 miles on the climb back into town.  Tim finished about 25 minutes under the 25 hour mark.  Unbelievable run.  His friends that he came out with all finished right behind him.  I think all four of them finished within 3 minutes of each other.  I was wiped out.  After finishing LT100 myself this was the most satisfying run I've ever had.  Pacing someone is a privilege and watching Tim throw down that back 50 was pretty special.  I know I will think of his run when I run the WRT in October.